Vermont Business Magazine Democrat Matt Dunne announced this morning that he has joined the race to become Vermont's next governor, in an email entitled: "I am running for Governor." Dunne was expected to announce that he would seek Vermont's highest office once again. He ran a strong race for the Democratic nomination against a strong field in 2010, which Peter Shumlin won in a very tight contest over Doug Racine. Dunne, 45, is a Google executive who lives in Hartland. He was born in Connecticut and graduated from Brown University. While there are several prominent politicians for both parties considered as potential candidates, including Lieutenant Governor Phil Scott and last-time runner up Scott Milne for the Republicans, and for the Democrats Transportation Secretary Sue Minter, the only declared candidates had been Democratic Speaker Shap Smith and Republican Bruce Lisman, who announced yesterday.
From his campaign Web site, his bio says that he was elected to the Vermont House at the age of 22 and served seven years before joining the Clinton administration as the Director of AmeriCorps*VISTA overseeing 6000 full-time people working in the fight against poverty. In 2002 he returned to Vermont and was elected to two terms in the Vermont Senate. Outside of the Legislature, he worked in high-tech marketing and before joining Google Dunne was the Associate Director of the Rockefeller Center at Dartmouth College, creating programs to support students who wish to pursue careers in the nonprofit and public sector. He is now the Head of Community Affairs at Google, where he supports all aspects of the company's local corporate social responsibility activities in communities where Google has an office or data center as well as helping guide larger corporate partnerships with the nonprofit and public sector. Dunne lives on the small farm where he grew up in Hartland with his wife, Sarah Taylor, and his sons, Judson and Abraham, and daughter, Cora.
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Dunne Statement
Hello,
With your clear support - I am running for governor.
Over the last few months I have been speaking with many of you about the challenges Vermont is facing. From those conversations, it is clear that our state is at a critical juncture. Vermonters are looking for a fresh approach. They want to build on our strong tradition of community and innovation, and offer more opportunity for our next generation.
The energy from your emails, phone calls, and the animated conversation at our first community gathering in Rutland has been inspiring.
From experience, I know that running a grassroots campaign to develop solutions to move our state forward will take a strong team, financial resources, and local community engagement. I am happy to announce that with your support, these three key elements have come together.
The right team: No one governs, much less runs a campaign, alone. A fantastic group of Vermonters have stepped up to join our cause:
Nick Charyk, Campaign Manager
Fauna Hurley, Finance Director
Ben Eisenberg, Finance Mobilization
Mike Lane and Propeller Media Works, Digital
In addition, we have a Finance Committee that has come together with members from across the state:
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Resources:As of this weekend, we have raised over $200,000 without a single mailing, fundraising event, or mass email appeal.
LocalCommunity Engagement: We put out the call two weeks ago to Vermonters to set up forums and you responded by organizing 19 community forums covering all 14 counties. I have learned a lot from these conversations already and I look forward to learning much more.
You can sign up to attend one of these community discussions here.
I do not take this decision lightly. Running a grassroots campaign based on new ideas that come from the ground up is not easy. But with all of the challenges we are facing as a state -- the growing divide between rich and poor, our declining school population, the need to build a new Vermont economy that works for all of Vermont, and the rising cost of healthcare -- I couldn't imagine running any other kind of campaign.
We will be making a formal announcement later in the fall, and in preparation we want to hear from you -- in your community -- over the next four weeks. We want to hear your concerns, your challenges, your fears, your hopes, your great ideas. You will help shape our campaign platform and, with it, the future of Vermont.
Please sign up for a community discussion in your county today.
This is an important time in the history of our state. We hope you will join us for this journey.
Matt